Prince Charles Black Spider Row Continues

Graham Smith, leader of Republic, the group that campaigns for abolition of the royal family as head of state in the UK, has a rather pithy summing up of the furore surrounding the British attorney general's decision to block he piublication of a series of letters from prince Charles to government ministers known as the 'black spider' memos owing to Charles's spiky handwriting.

"Grieve has said this is about protecting Prince Charles's impartiality but that impartiality doesn't exist," he i quoted today as saying in the Guardian. "Charles has made that clear. This decision is about pretending Charles is impartial while he continues to lobby in favour of his own political agenda. If Grieve believes Charles to be impartial then let him prove it by allowing the release of these documents."